While multiplayer battle modes may not be what God of War fans are most looking forward to in God of War: Ascension, Sony is certainly touting them as a major feature of the title.

Today, Sony announced that gamers will get a chance to try out Ascension‘s multiplayer action in a beta that begins on January 8. The beta will be open to PlayStation Plus subscribers, and European subscribers will get access to the beta starting January 9. Gamers who have been participating (and winning) in the Rise of the Warrior social media game tie-in will get earlier access to the beta, some as early as today.

The beta will contain the “Team Favor of the Gods” and “Favor of the Gods” modes, which pit player against one another to earn “favor points.” Points are earned from kills, brutal kills, opening chests, capturing domination points, or performing an execution with the “Spear of Olympus.” Players will get a chance during the beta to play on the Desert of Lost Souls map, seen in the multiplayer trailer released back in June, as well as several other maps, including one inspired by the Hercules Arena from God of War III.

To celebrate the announcement, Sony has released a new and extremely bloody Ascension multiplayer trailer.